Nightmares
by HippieDippyGirl
Summary: Dan suffers from nightmares but Phil is always willing to help.


**01.**

Dan starts having bad nightmares when he's sixteen. The internet diagnoses it as hormones and nothing else, so he just deals with the nights that he wakes up in a cold sweat, fear clouding his mind.

Soon after, he discovers that his favorite youtuber - AmazingPhil - is the only person who can sooth him back to sleep and he grasps onto that, watching his videos until he can calm down enough to get back to resting.

**02. **

Dan may or may not have a mini-heart attack the first time Phil replies to one of his personal tweets, and he may or may not be even more in love with the youtuber after he reads the reply.

He had woken up from a particularly terrifying nightmare (something he was used to, if he was being honest) and sent this thoughts out to the world without any hesitation.

_danisnotonfire 4:08 AM_

_nightmares. i completely love the fact that i probably won't sleep for a week now. thanks satan. _

The instantaneous reply makes his heart stop.

_amazingphil 4:10 AM_

_Hope you're okay! I would help if I knew how. xx _

Dan falls back asleep an hour later after watching every recent video Phil had uploaded to calm himself down.

The next morning he DM's the older man, _you actually did help last night, thanks xx :]_

**03. **

Dan and Phil skype every night, and now it's gotten to the point that they almost always fall asleep while still on camera with each other. It's comforting - like they're actually in the same bed even if they aren't. Phil passes out around three o'clock, which leaves Dan to find something to do for another hour until he forces himself to sleep.

He knows it's a terrible idea while he's doing it, but he doesn't stop. He forgets that Phil is asleep on the receiving end and decides to search out some creepypastas.

After reading various stories, Dan feels tingly - and he decides that it would be best to just sleep and pretend he never read them. When he's falling asleep, he turns the lights off and hides under the covers until he falls into unconsciousness. He's vaguely aware of his laptop still being open on the end of his bed, but is too scared to get up to put it away.

Two hours later, Dan wakes up with a start, breathing heavily and screaming.

_"Fuck!" _he yells. It's a good thing he's home alone.

He sits up, putting his head in his hands and rubbing at his eyes. He is frozen with fear before he forces himself to turn on the lights. When he's turning back to his previous position, he hears a "Dan?" and nearly jumps off of his bed. Then he realizes it's just Phil, and he relaxes.

"Phil, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to - sorry," he rambles, his voice an octave higher than usual.

Phil looks wide awake now, and he's leaning closer into the webcam, his eyes focused on Dan. "Are you okay?"

Dan lets out a long breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry I woke you up, I'll let you go."

"No! Wait," Phil says, "It's okay, really. What's wrong?"

"It was my fault, I shouldn't have read that before bed."

"What did you read?"

"...Creepypasta stuff."

Phil slumps his shoulders. "Why'd you read that, especially right before bed?"

Dan shrugs. "It was stupid. Sorry I woke you."

"No, it's not stupid. It's just frustrating because I want to be there to make sure you're okay."

His heart thumps to his throat.

"I'm fine, Phil, thanks."

"How can I help?"

Dan shakes his head. "No, you don't have to do that, I'll be fine."

Phil gives him a look that just screams _I know when you're lying to me, you idiot,_ and repeats his question.

"I usually just watch your videos until I can go back to sleep," the eighteen year old admits, blushing and hiding his face in his duvet.

"Really?" Phil smiles brightly. "Well that's easy, then! C'mon, let's talk or something. I promise not to fall asleep on you this time."

They spend the next hour and a half talking like they usually do until Dan drifts off.

Phil watches him sleep for a few moments, smiling at the look of peace on his beautiful features, before setting his laptop aside and turning up the volume just in case Dan needs him again.

**04. **

It's the best week of Dan's life. He's already spent three days at Phil's house and he doesn't think he could be happier. Then, on the fourth night, it happens it makes Dan hate himself.

He's curled up in a question mark around Phil's spine when he jerks awake, his heart pounding. He realizes he's crying and untangles himself from who may be the love of his life to wipe his eyes. Dan makes his legs move despite the paralyzed shaking that has overtaken his whole body. He really wishes he knew what he dreamt about, but for the life of him, he can't remember.

Dan makes himself walk a circle around the room, and then another, and another until he can breathe again. His hair is sticking up in different directions and it's curling from running his hands through it so much, but he doesn't care. He takes a seat on the floor, his back leaning against the mattress, and wraps his arms around himself.

Moments later, Phil wakes up and feels the absence of his best friend. It doesn't take much searching to find the shaking boy on the floor. The eldest gives a sad look, and the concern settles in the bottom of his stomach. "Dan?" he says softly, getting out of bed to sit next to him.

Dan hides his face. "I'm sorry. I thought, I mean...it hadn't happened in a while. I thought I could get through this week without any bad dreams."

"Don't do that. Don't apologize, okay? I just want to make you feel better." Phil wraps an arm around Dan's shoulders and the smaller boy leans into him.

"You always do."

**05. **

They're living together now, and there's no way Dan can hide the nightmares when they happen too often. Dan stays up until five in the morning regularly, so he usually just joins Phil in the elder's bed when he finally gets around to sleeping, but sometimes he's too exhausted to make the trek to the other room and passes out on his own bed.

Tonight is one of those nights, and Dan hadn't even bothered to get under the covers before falling asleep. It's a Friday night and there's nothing planned for the weekend, so he just plans to sleep all day.

That works out just about as well as anyone would expect, and Dan wakes up screaming at seven a.m., with Phil's hand shaking his shoulder.

"You're okay, it's okay, I promise," Phil is repeating, gripping Dan tightly.

Dan takes a moment to adjust to his surroundings. "Shit," he sighs when he realizes the familiar signs of having a nightmare. He connects with Phil's eyes, ocean meeting mud, and leans forward to wrap his arms around the elder.

"Thank you," he breathes.

Phil nods and holds him, eventually moving up to the bed to pull the younger as close to him as he can, rubbing circles into his bad soothingly.

"We should find out why you're having nightmares, bear, really. You're always so tired. You're going to get sick."

"I've been having them since I was, what, sixteen? It's been five years. It's just something you get used to dealing with."

Phil casts a disapproving look and shakes his head. "I love you, but you're an idiot sometimes."

Dan smiles, leaning up to kiss Phil's jaw softly. "I love you, too."

**epilogue**

Phil finally gets Dan to go to a doctor later on in the year, and he finds out that he has insomnia, and that the nightmares are a byproduct.

He takes a pill once a day, and Phil is overjoyed that Dan may actually get some consistent rest. They don't get rid of every single nightmare but they decrease them, and that's what matters.

Dan only has nightmares every once in a while now, and Phil is always there to calm him down and help him to be okay again.


End file.
